Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography Archives

Researchers drilling into Lake Vida in October, 1996. Image courtesy of the Priscu Research Group, Montana State University at Bozeman

Analog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Mars, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Tricorders & Sensors, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Researchers Uncover Extreme Lake — and 3000-Year-Old Microbes — in a Mars-Like Antarctic Environment

by Keith CowingDecember 16, 2002April 14, 2024

NSF-supported researchers drilling into Lake Vida, an Antarctic “ice-block” lake, have found the lake isn’t really an ice block at all. In the December 16 issue of the Proceedings of the […]

An artist’s depiction of our world when the Earthshine measurements were taken, enhanced to show the “red edge” from vegetation. A distant astronomer on another planet would see the spectral signatures of our oxygen atmosphere, water, and chlorophyll from land plants. [enlarge] Credit: John Walker’s “Earth Viewer,” Christine Lafon, (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics).

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Astronomers Find Life On Earth

by Keith CowingOctober 30, 2002January 20, 2026

Now that the discovery of extrasolar planets, or planets around distant stars, has become relatively routine, scientists are now tackling the next step: finding life-bearing worlds. To do this, observers […]

Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Europa, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

More Evidence of an Ice Covered Ocean on Europa

by Keith CowingAugust 25, 2000June 13, 2024

NASA researchers have the strongest evidence yet that one of Jupiter’s most mysterious moons hides a fermenting ocean of water underneath its icy coat. This evidence comes from magnetic readings […]

This artist’s impression shows how Mars may have looked about four billion years ago. The young planet Mars would have had enough water to cover its entire surface in a liquid layer about 140 metres deep, but it is more likely that the liquid would have pooled to form an ocean occupying almost half of Mars’s northern hemisphere, and in some regions reaching depths greater than 1.6 kilometres. Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Habitable Zones, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Meteorites & Asteroids, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Mars Once Had Salty Oceans – Just Like Earth

by Keith CowingJune 25, 2000April 14, 2024

On the same day that NASA was announcing the apparent presence of liquid water near the surface of Mars, another research team announced that Mars once had salty oceans like […]